"It's quite worrying," Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa told Sapa, speaking at the end of a media briefing in Cape Town that outlined government's plans to spend billions on infrastructure, including water infrastructure, across the country.
Experts warn that increasing demand for water is set to place severe strain on the country's ability to supply this finite resource.
Treasury's 2012 Budget Review, tabled by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan last week, says South Africa will start running out of water 13 years from now without better management.
"On current projections, South Africa's water demand will outstrip available supply between 2025 and 2030," the document states.
An amount of R75 billion has been allocated over the next three years for "water infrastructure, quality management, resource planning and support to local government" to address the problem.
Speaking at the briefing on Tuesday, Molewa indicated that action needed to be taken sooner rather than later.
"We don't want to wait until we have a situation like we have with electricity," she said.
Her department's hopes were pinned on various initiatives, including the completion of Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which is set to supply an additional 151 million cubic metres of water to the Vaal River system by 2020.
The department was also looking at developing ground water, as well as coastal desalination plants, although the water supplied by the latter would be expensive. More
